


Face Regret

by vegitodorito



Category: Dragon Ball
Genre: AU, Angst, F/M, Future Vegeta is a sad and lonely old man, Hurt/Comfort, Reunions, canon compliant... sorta, more like alternate canon, skipping fight scenes bc i dont wanna write them ;)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-01
Updated: 2019-01-10
Packaged: 2019-08-14 00:24:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,471
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16482572
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vegitodorito/pseuds/vegitodorito
Summary: Alternate Universe- instead of Bulma, future Trunks is raised by his father, Vegeta.With the rise of Goku Black, Trunks and Vegeta find themselves in need of help, and return to the past. For the first time in nineteen years, Vegeta sees Bulma again, and is forced to face things he’s been pushing away.





	1. Preface

They’re all amazed. Within minutes of arriving, this boy just killed Frieza, his father, and the rest of their soldiers in a flash. And now? He’s handing out snacks, claiming that Goku will arrive in an hour. It’s crazy, Bulma thinks, who the hell is this kid? 

“I… Can’t tell you my name.” He says stiffly to Krillin, who’s been probing him, “But I’m seventeen, and I’m a proud saiyan.”

This gets everyone’s attention, including Vegeta, who had been pouting, visibly, since Freeza’s destruction. 

“Oh?” Bulma finally asks, “And why is that, super boy?”

Before he can answer, Yamcha pipes up, “Let him keep his secrets Bulma, with power like that we can’t make him tell us anything.”

At the drop of Bulma’s name, the young man’s demeanour seems to change, and he looks at her with great concern.

“You’re Bulma Briefs?” He asks.

She hops down from her rocky perch, always happy to be noticed, “I am, why so interested?”

“I’ve… heard a lot about you.” He says carefully.

Tien chuckles, “Who hasn’t.”

“Yeah,” Krillin jumps in, “Its hard not to hear about her.”

“It’s hard not to hear her, period.” Yamcha finishes.

The men continue their playful jabs and Bulma fakes offence, while the boy lets himself disappear from the conversation. The majority of the hour passes rather uneventfully after that, Piccolo and Gohan engaged in conversation, Bulma and the boys exchanging insults, Vegeta sitting off on his own, and their strange new friend, who is also sitting off by himself.

“He… kinda looks like Vegeta doesn’t he? Or am I crazy?” Krillin says.

Yamcha looks between the two men, “I dunno, it might just be the attitude.”

“I see it,” says Tien.

“Yeah me too,” Bulma adds, “he’s been staring at me ever since he found out who I was.”

Krillin scoffs, “He’s probably got a crush on you or something.”

“Nah, it seems different than that, it’s like he’s… curious.” She’s quiet for a moment before erupting in giggles, “Maybe I should ask Vegeta if he had some kind of fling seventeen years ago.”

“Oh sure,” Yamcha gripes “What do you want written on your tombstone?”

She laughs again, “Died gorgeous, asking too many questions.”

///

“So you really are Kakarot then.” The boy says, powering down from his super saiyan form.

Kakarot smiles and powers down as well, “Well most people call me Goku, but yeah, that’s my saiyan name, how do you know who I am?” He asks childishly.

“It’s… Sensitive information. You’re the only person I could tell, but you can’t tell anyone else.”

Goku rubs the back of his neck and tilts his head, “Why not?” 

“It could put my life in danger.”

Goku’s face changes to adopt a more serious look, and he nods. “Alright, my lips are sealed.”

“My name is Trunks, I’m sure everyone else already told you I came from the future.”

“They did. I don’t really understand how all that works… so if that’s what you need help with you should ask Bulma.”

Trunks shakes his head, “This is more important than that. Three years from now you’re going to get sick, and two androids are going to appear to kill you all.”

Goku’s demeanour changes once again, enticed by the idea, “Well with three years to prepare I’m sure we’ll be able to-“

“No.” Trunks cuts in, he reaches into his pocket and hands Goku a vial. “When the pain starts, take this. Even with the extra time, you hardly stand a chance.”

“Come on, why so pessimistic, with you around our odds are great!”

Trunks grits his teeth. “You have no idea what you’re up against. In the future that I come from, everyone is gone. You, Piccolo, Krillin, Tien… Even Bulma. My father raised me alone, raised me to fight the androids, and sent me here to change the past.”

“But you’re half saiyan, who’s your dad…?”

“It’s-“

Goku gasps, “Am I your dad? I mean I don’t think we look much alike but I could see it…”

“Vegeta is my father!” Trunks hisses, as loud as he can without being heard by the others.

“Vegeta?!”

“Keep your voice down!” 

“So your mom, wh-“

“Bulma Briefs is my mother.”

“WHAT?” 

“Be quiet! This is what I meant when I said my life is in danger, if the two of them find out that… I… happened, then I might _not_ happen.”

“Bulma and Vegeta, huh?”

The two men find themselves looking over at the woman in question.

“She died when I was a year old, so I don’t remember her. Dad… doesn’t talk about her much.”

Goku looks back to Trunks, “You said everyone dies fighting these androids, right? Why not Vegeta too? If I had to guess I’d say he’d be the first to go, the way he throws himself into things.”

Trunks chuckles, “He told me the same thing. When Bulma died, the androids took my father’s leg. It slowed him down, but he didn’t stop, not until a few years later. There was a lot of internal damage, and we don’t have the means to fix it, so whenever his blood pressure gets too high he starts spitting up blood. He stopped fighting after that and focused on teaching me everything he could.”

“Wow, so your Vegeta must be really patient and stuff.”

“I guess he is,” Trunks shrugs, “but it’s not… strange to me, he’s been like that my whole life.”

They’re both quiet for a while before Goku erupts with a whine, “Man I can’t tell anyone about this? But this is so good.”

“You absolutely cannot.”

Goku laughs, “Yeesh, you really were raised by Vegeta.”


	2. Reunion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry it took so long! :0

Before Trunks climbs back into his fine machine, he says his final goodbye. Bulma wraps her arms around her son, and holds on tight, after a moment, he hugs her back.

“Say hi to your father for me.” 

He hears her smile as she says it. 

“I will.” 

“I’m gonna miss you.”

He holds her a little tighter, and buries his head further into her neck, “I’ll miss you too.”

Trunks understands now why it’s so hard for his father to talk about her. He’s only been here for a few months, and even then her time with her has been short, but she’s amazing. The smartest person he’s ever met, and yet, also the kindest. It was infuriating to watch how the Vegeta of this timeline treated her, and yet she was never angry with him for long, always understanding of his hidden trauma.

Trunks knows his father has problems, lots of them, and he knows Vegeta wouldn’t be the same man that raised him without her. Their year in the time chamber was more than enough to prove that.

He will miss her, he thinks, how could he not? 

///

Bulma’s in the living room when she hears it, one huge rippling sound, followed by a horrific crash.

She’s outside in seconds, followed shortly by Trunks, now twelve, and his odd friends.

“Oh… My god.”

“Mom! It’s aliens!”

“It’s not aliens, Trunks. Go get Piccolo and Krillin, and then call your father.”

“But-“

She uses her best ‘the earth is in danger’ voice, “Right now.”

That gets his attention, and in a flash of gold light, he’s gone.

She approaches the machine with caution now, the same as what had appeared years ago, but it’s wrecked. Crashed on its side and half buried in the dirt of her front lawn. Panic sets in as she sees clouds of gas under the cracked glass of the dome, and sparks erupt from exposed machinery. 

She picks up a loose shard of metal, and begins smashing on the glass along its breaks. Cracks grow until the dome shatters entirely, revealing not one, but two unconscious figures inside. The first is her son, purple bangs draped in front of his closed eyes, the second is bloody, but if anything that helps her recognize him quicker; it’s Vegeta. Shock only stops her for a moment, she sets to work cutting them both free.

It’s hard work getting both saiyan men from the yard to her house, but she manages. By the time she cleans up the bangs and bruises they sustained from the crash, her lab is filled with onlookers, far more than she would like, but she’s relieved to have her own husband back. 

It was so strange to look at his future counterpart. Vegeta had told her that saiyans age at a much slower rate, and she notices that in him, when he’s not scowling, but the man unconscious on the table in front of her looks so different. A few thin scars contour down his cheek, above his eyebrow, and from the corner of his mouth to his chin, he’s also missing his right leg, at the mid thigh, replaced with a prosthetic. What strikes her most is how tired he looks. Dark bags rest permanently under his eyes, and even while asleep he wears a deep look of worry. 

The room falls silent as Trunks is the first to stirr, Bulma moves to help him up. Before she can reach him he’s already on his feet, gold light explodes around them and Trunks lunges towards Goku at full power. 

They lock together, Goku blocking the attack, and Trunks pushing forward, rage painted on his face. 

She wants to speak, or reach out to her son, clearly unaware of where he is, or who he’s fighting. Before she can shake herself to action, the Vegeta’s voice fills the room.

“Trunks that’s enough!”

He reacts like it’s a blow to the chest. The super saiyan form fizzles away and he stumbles backwards a few steps, but catches himself before he can fall. Trunks looks around him now, wide eyed and slack jawed, at everybody positioned around the room, looking right back at him.

“We made it.” He says quietly

Bulma puts a hand on his shoulder, “You two took quite a tumble on entry, but yeah, you made it.”

“And… Ka- er, Goku, you’re okay. You’re still… you?”

“Yep.” He chirps back, as if he hadn’t just been attacked, “They brought me back a few years after the tournament.”

Vegeta steps forward now, “What do you mean, still himself? And why did… _he_ come too? What happened?” He pauses as he speaks, clearly struggling with the proper way to address his future self. 

Trunks scans the room again, and turns to face Bulma, “I think it would be better to explain in privacy.”

Beerus pipes up from his relaxed seat in the corner, “Any matter involving another big baddie is something a god of destruction ought to hear about.”

“God of wha-?”

Bulma cuts of her son with a wave, and points to Beerus and Whis. “Now is not the time to pull rank. Get up and go, I’ll find something tasty for you later.”

Whis rolls his eyes and begins what sounds like a complaint, but Bulma points firmly to the door, “Out. Now.”

With a whine, both dieties exit the room. Trunks turns back to his mother, confusion naked on his face.

She sighs, “I’ll explain later.”

“You’ve got me all curious now,” Goku says excitedly, “what’s happening in the future? Is it Majin Buu?”

Vegeta hums in equal interest.

“No, I was able to defeat Babbidi and Debura before they could awaken Buu. This is something different entirely. There’s a person, claiming to be a god, and swearing to kill all mortals, but… he’s in your body, Goku. He has all of your power, maybe more, and no matter what father and I do we can’t find a way to stop him. We call him Goku Black.”

“How is that possible?” Bulma asks.

“We… Don’t know.”

“Well is it the real me, or is it some copycat? Like, do you really think it’s my body?” Goku seems, as usual, unable to grasp the gravity of the situation.

“It’s your body, Father is sure of it.”

“So you came here for our help?” Vegeta acuses.

Trunks nods reluctantly, “If we don’t stop him soon Earth will be a wasteland.”

A few coughs bring their attention to the previously unconscious, future Vegeta. Trunks moves over to him, and he sits up over the edge of the low table, with his elbows on his knees. The coughing continues until he wipes his mouth with the back of his hand, and it comes back bloody, but neither father nor son seem phased.

Bulma crouches in front of him, “Are you alright? Do you need anything?”

Future Vegeta’s head snaps up and looks at her wide eyed. Disbelief washes over his features, and Bulma is reminded, oh so suddenly, the gravity of this reunion.

To him, she’s been dead for twenty years.

His eyebrows knit together and he opens his mouth, but says nothing. Gently, she reaches out to put a hand on his bicep, but the way he jolts, you would have thought she’d stuck jumper cables to him. 

“Are you okay, Vegeta?” She asks again.

“You’re here.” He says, audible only to the two of them, and maybe Trunks, who is now sitting at the end of the table.

She smiles warmly, and moves her hand to cup his cheek, “Yeah, I’m here.”

Instantly she’s pulled forward, and he wraps his arms around her in a tight embrace. She hugs him back, stroking a hand through his hair. He exhales shakily into her shoulder, “I love you,” it’s barely a whisper, “I never told you… I never...” He lets out another long breath. There’s a silence, and she feels his arms tremble, “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s not your fault Vegeta.” It’s the only thing she can think to say. She’s dumbfounded by his vulnerability, amazed that he would even say something like this, remembering who he was before the androids attacked. Closed off, silent, always wrestling with his emotions. It took so much to get close to him, even close enough just to speak with him candidly.

She feels him shake his head against her, and he pulls away, unable to meet her eyes. 

He looks over now, to Trunks, and then past him to Goku and then to… himself. The two Vegetas now stare awkwardly at each other. Goku whispers something to the man next to him, but receives no reaction. They’re both wrestling with a feeling that, likely, nobody in the universe has ever had to experience before.

Goku, being the only person in the room without some kind of direct tie to the touching emotional display they all just witnessed, clears his throat, and speaks up awkwardly, “So… The future, huh? Trunks told us all about it...”

Trunks jumps on this opportunity for regular conversation, “Father, the time machine took some damage on impact, we’re going to have to start work on repairs if we want to go back any time soon.”

The older man nods, and stands stiffly, “Right,” he looks to Bulma, “I… Assume you would have all necessary tools?”

“Sure do. I’ve also got a genius brain, if you want my help.” She examines her nails dramatically, “Help fixing the machine _I_ designed.” She tops it off with a wink.

This time it’s her Vegeta that speaks, “The two of you will be fine on your own, Trunks should come training with us to prepare. Kakarot and I have grown considerably in power since your last visit.”

“Aw yeah.” Goku says, “We’ll catch you up to speed.”

Trunks looks between the two men, and then to his father, who nods in approval. 

“Let’s not waste any time then.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i have such a hard time deciding what to call future vegeta in my writing lol cause it seems so wrong to just call him "future vegeta"


	3. Challange

Goku and Trunks disappear off the lawn as soon as the group of them leave the front door, and after giving Bulma a reassuring look, her Vegeta follows.

She and the Vegeta that stayed behind now cross the lawn to start poking at the still-smoking time machine.

Vegeta scoffs, “It doesn’t look that bad.”

“It’s half in the dirt.”

He walks a circle around it and kneels facing a panel at the back side, “Rebuilding the hull isn’t the issue,” he explains, reaching inside, “the engine would be the biggest problem, but since it crashed top-first the circuitry and the core are mostly untouched.”

“Lucky that.” Bulma says, “I’ll have some employees order the metal we need, do you think you can carry the engine and stuff back to the lab so we can get started?”

He nods, and in a few minutes they’re looking over her work table.

“Trunks never let me poke around in the time machine the first time he was here, he didn’t even tell me how it worked! I mean it’s not like i didn’t figure it out eventually but I’ve always wanted to disassemble it.” 

Vegeta comes up beside her and lays a thick leather bound journal on the table, “your original notes, plus Gohan’s theoretical physics, my engineering, and all the blueprints.”

Egaly she flips the book open, filtering through page after page, eyes wide in interest, “You and Gohan did all this? It’s amazing. All I really had were some theories and you two made a damn time machine.”

She looks at him now, smiling wide, “It’s amazing.”

Instead of the usual preening and proud looks she’s used to getting from complimenting her husband, Vegeta averts his eyes, mumbling about desperate times and desperate measures.

Just as they’re about to dig in to the technological feat of Bulma’s dreams, the ground rumbles.

“They’re back.” Vegeta says.

Bulma groans overdramatically, “I thought they left to go train why would they be back,” there's another rumble and she climbs the stairs to the door, “and why are all you saiyans so insistent on ruining my nice property!”

Exiting the lab reveals Trunks and Goku floating fifty feet in the air, circling each other, and the younger Vegeta watching from the ground. 

Bulma approaches her husband, and Future Vegeta follows.

“Why are you back?” She asks with a sigh.

“We wanted to gauge what kind of strength Black has,” he turns to address his future self, “we figured we should get your opinion as well.” 

The older saiyan nods, and the three of them turn to look up at the spar above them, both men had turned super saiyan and were exchanging blow after blow, lighting up the sky.

“He’s got good technical form.” 

Future Vegeta scoffs a little, “As if I’d let him get away with any less.”

Bulma can’t help but giggle, the two men may be very different in terms of experiences, or emotional intelligence but evidently they still share the same values.

They watch Goku and Trunks clash with each other, as her own young son wanders over, clearly very engaged in the fight.

“Kick his ass future me!”

Bulma laughs again, and the absurdity of everything fades away a little.

They’re all so focused on the golden light above them they fail to notice the deep grey clouds looming overhead, darker and darker, wind starts whipping by. Bulma has seen enough near-apocalypses to know this isn’t normal fallout of a super saiyan sparring session. She hooks her arms around her husband’s and gives him a questioning look. Before she can get her answer streaks of lightning erupt from the darkest clouds directly overhead and immediately the saiyans above stop altogether. She grips Vegeta’s arm tighter and looks to Trunks, then to the Vegeta to her left, and the Trunks in the sky. Dende on high, now she has double the saiyan death wishes to worry about. 

Lightning gathers and builds and arcs until a bright hot center of energy contrasts against now black clouds, it grows, and there’s something visible within. 

Her adult son and goku drop to the ground, but stand ready, her husband pulls free from her grasp and steps forward to do the same. 

“It’s black.” Shouts future Vegeta, over the wind.

She turns from him to stare again at the center of the brightness. One final flash of lightning and it’s all gone again, leaving only one thing behind. He looked like Goku, but even from this distance something was off. The way he held himself, more tense, uptight, poised. 

“There you two are, no wonder I wasn’t able to find you.”

“How the hell did you get here bastard!?” Trunks yells back,

Black doesn’t indulge him with a response, instead he proceeds to scan the area, and the crowd. 

Powering back up Trunks lifts off the ground, but the voice of his father stops him, “Don’t. You’re not on his level.”  
Instead, goku flies up to meet his mirrored foe, snickering, “You snooze, you loose!”

She hears a sound of shock and offence from next to her. Future Vegeta meets her gaze, “In twenty years he hasn’t learned to act like a fucking adult?”

“Oh sweetie, Goku hasn’t taken anything seriously in his entire life, not unless it’s imminent death.” _And his opinions of what “imminent” and “death” mean seem to vary from day to day,_ she adds mentally.

A powerful blast of light from Black launches goku over the horizon, and follows close behind. As they disappear, both Vegetas, and future Trunks follow close behind.

Her own son looks to her for permission.

“No way, stay here with me.” The ground shakes and streaks of light flare out from the desert, she fights to keep her footing, “Please?”

He nods and the two of them look off into the distance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im so sorry it took so long, i wanna say school and stuff but really its cause i hate writing action sequences.... all i wanna do is write fluff and angst but i have to write action to do that so.. ugh. i know this one isnt that great but the next one will be sad! i promise! if youre here for angst youre in for a good (or bad...?) time


	4. Comfort

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> idk if i should have tagged this fic with major character death... cause she isn’t really a character in this story, but, regardless, this chapter discusses future bulma’s death, (not in detail) so tw! or fair warning i guess!

In one final act of spite, Black sends a blast to destroy what is left of the time machine, and then, just as he arrived, he’s gone.

Trunks screams in disbelief, falling to his knees when he reaches the edge of the crater. His father is by his side in seconds, but he appears much calmer. Bulma hangs back for a second and watches. She’d admit to being a little more than curious as to what Vegeta’s future counterpart was like as a father.

Vegeta places a hand on Trunk’s shoulder, “The engine is in the lab, we’re not stuck yet,” he says simply.

Trunks, still shaken, nods and brings himself to his feet again, “How long do you think it’ll take?”

Instead of answering, Vegeta looks back at Bulma for a response.

“Three days, maybe less, if we work around the clock.” She says honestly.

///

Back in the lab things between Bulma and Vegeta shift to an awkward state. They work together fine, and he clearly knows what he’s talking about, but he won’t meet her eyes, won’t let the conversation stray too far away from the task at hand, or stays silent altogether. Even physically he keeps a distance, and she can’t help but be confused.

He seemed so… relieved to see her when he’d woken up, but now he’s receded. He reminds her more and more of the troubled man she grew to love all those years ago.

She pauses what she’s doing and looks at him from across the workbench, “Vegeta, are you sure you’re okay?”

He doesn’t look up from the mess of wires he’s putting together, “I’m fine.”

“You won’t even look at me.”

Nothing.

“Silence didn’t work on me back then and it won’t work now.”

A quiet sigh escapes him, and he puts his tools down, he stiffens visibly, “I can’t.”

She picks her next words carefully, “Because ...I make you remember?”

He nods.

“What… Do I remind you of?”

Finally he looks up at her, tired eyes surrounded by a stressed expression, deep brown pupils set into a face so subtly different from one shes come to memorize.

“Everything I failed to realize… until it was too late.” Defeat dripping from his words. 

There’s a long silence, when she speaks she realizes her voice is shaking ever so slightly, “How… how did I die? Trunks never told me…”

His voice is so low it sounds as if he’s only talking to himself, “You were out, scavenging for supplies, I was off somewhere else, but I felt the androids power up close to where you were… I panicked, a-and i came as fast as i could but by the time I got there... he was on the ground, wailing…” She can hear him unravel slowly as he keeps speaking, “and you were gone -dead. I… didn’t know what to do b-but I took him back to your place… I know I wasn’t good I...”

He sighs loudly and buries his hands in his hair, she waits for him to finish but all he does is shake his head.

Her heart breaks for him all over again. It has a million times before, with every nightmare and panic attack, all his confessions and horror stories. Without thinking she’s on his side of the table, reaching out to embrace him. He looks up at her with an expression she doesn’t see often anymore, but she recognizes it in an instant. His eyebrows knit together in a mix of confusion and anxiety, her heart twists, knowing the words that go with it. _I failed you._

She pulls him close and hold him as tightly as she can, tentatively, he holds her back. She tries to speak but a sob bubbles up out of her instead, and all she can do is sink into him. She feels him pull her closer, and his chest shakes with uneven breathing. 

She places hands on both sides of his face, trying to steady her own breathing, and slow the tears rolling down her face, “Look at me.”

He doesn’t, shakes his head instead, “I can’t…”

“Vegeta.”

He looks.

“You did a good job.” She breathes out, between sobs, “You raised an intelligent, capable, _kind_ young man-“

“Don’t-“

“He’s amazing.” She smiles, “Your son is _amazing_ , you should be _so proud_ of yourself.”

She watches tears form in his eyes, and moves to wipe them away but she’s pulled back into his embrace, tighter than she’s used to. Like he never wants to let go. He buries his head into her shoulder. For a while they just hold eachother like that, she moves her fingers to run through his hair.

“I-I tried to do what you w-would have done, I tried to..” he exhales sharply “comfort him, the way you used to f-for me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *updates my fic twice in a week after not updating it in a month* YEET
> 
> this chapter is so short bc it felt very wrong to put anything else with this scene, so i hope y’all are cool with shorter, maybe more frequent chapters (it helps keep me committed to writing long fics lmao)
> 
> OH also sorry for skipping the big action scene, i really don’t like writing those, and i suck at it, just assume it’s the same as what happens in super (black and goku punch eachother in the desert for a bit)


	5. Questions

Trunks exits the gravity chamber, wiping his face, his muscles ache, but he loves it. He knows he’s making progress, nowhere near as strong as his father yet, but he’s getting somewhere. 

“Your father’s been working you hard.” Vegeta comments

Trunks hums and nods. “I like it that way, I have to keep improving.”

Vegeta grunts. They exit the gravity chamber, and Trunks stops to take in the light of the late afternoon sun. Closing his eyes he brushes his hair out of his face and feels the warmth of it. “We don’t get sunny days very often.” He says quietly. “Too much smog.”

Out on the lawn the giggles of children pepper the air. Vegeta sees his own young son running around with Kakarot’s son, and the three strange children they’d befriended. At the sight of his future self, Trunks turns and waves in their direction.

“Hey me!” 

The much taller purple haired boy opens his eyes and looks down to smile at a much younger version of himself. “Yes?”

“Why’s your dad missing a leg? And why does he have scars all over his face?”

“Well the androids took his leg, but i’m not sure when he got those face scars…” He trails off, pondering his answer.

“You’ll have a few of your own one day, once you start fighting like a real warrior.” Says Vegeta proudly.

“I’ve already got one!” Says young Trunks, pulling up his sleeve. “Got it from Beerus when Goten and I went at him.” He shows off his elbow, beaming. Both men lean down to see the short thick white line running from his elbow up his forearm.

Vegeta chuckles, “Don’t let your mother see that.”

“Hey dummy are you coming back?!” Calls the young girl from across the lawn, waving eagerly.

Adult Trunks laughs, “Who’s that?”

“None of your business!” Sasses the boy, running back to join the group.

“Did he ever tell you her name?” Trunks asks Vegeta.

“Maybe,” Says Vegeta, “I’m not inclined to remember those kinds of things.”

“She looks a lot like Mai.” 

“That sounds right, you know her then?”

Immediately Trunks blushes, “Um. Yeah… we’re uh, we’re friends… I think.”

At that Vegeta chuckles, “Does your father know about your _friend_?”

“No.” Trunks sighs.

They’re quiet for a while as they enter the kitchen to find something to eat. Trunks can’t help but notice the smirk on Vegeta’s face.

“Can I ask you something?” Trunks says, sitting at the kitchen table.

Vegeta opens the fridge and begins rooting around inside. “Mhm.”

“How did you and mom uh.. get together?”

Vegeta stands and starts piling food on the table. “You shouldn’t be asking me for advice about women.” 

“Why not? I mean, my dad doesn’t like to talk about Bulma so I figured maybe you could… help me out?”

Vegeta chuckles again, “I had almost nothing to do with weather or not your mother and I became a couple.” He says, still standing, “I was very stupid, and very very lucky.”

“Lucky how?”

“I had no idea what I… felt, or what to do about it. I was lucky she felt the same. Your mother is the kind of woman who gets what she wants.” There was a long pause as Vegeta thought deeply about his words. “She didn’t care that I was a menace, that I was rude and closed off. She decided that she wanted to act on whatever feelings she had, and she did. It never made any difference to her that I could have crushed her without a second thought. She makes people respect her, she made me respect her, and that is luxury that very few have earned.”

Trunks laughs, “So I should be asking her?”

Vegeta nods, and the men begin to eat.

For a while they sit in comfortable silence, both tired, and focused on their large meals. It surprises Trunks when Vegeta speaks again, unused to casual conversation with his father, especially when there was food present.

“What do you think of Bulma?” He asks.

Trunks wants to ask what he means, but instead he forces himself to actually think about it. How _does_ he feel about Bulma?

“Well it’s impossible not to respect her, like you said.” He starts. “But I don’t know if she’ll ever be my mom. I want her to be, I wish she had been there with me growing up… but she wasn’t. She’s the nicest person I think I’ve ever met, and when I talk to her I always feel like she’s really listening to me, you know? There’s so much I could learn from her.” He lets out a sigh and looks down. “I just know I’ll have to leave again… I think that’s what’s bothering dad so much, too. At the end of it all, she can’t be ours can she? Not really…” 

A weight of hot guilt seeps over him after he finishes, and he has a hard time meeting the eyes of the man across the table for the rest of their silent meal.

///

Trunks feels heavy as he descends the stairs to the kitchen. His heart vibrates inside him like a loose motor, ready to break out of place and rattle all throughout his body. 

After his conversation with Vegeta the night prior sleep didn’t come to him easily, and when it did his dreams didn’t let him sleep long. Mai was ever present in the back of his mind. Their last encounter was a narrow escape, and Trunks can’t help but worry that she may not be so lucky in the time it takes him to return. 

As he steps into the kitchen he’s surprised to see Bulma there at the table, being that the sun hadn’t even risen yet.

“Early morning?” He asked.

She finishes a long sip of coffee. “All-nighter.”

He nods. Upon first seeing her he thought being around her might calm him down, as she had done many times in the fight against Cell, however his words to Vegeta hung on him, and his heart refused to slow its pace.

“Take a seat.” She offered kindly. “Why are you up so early?”

“Bad dream.” 

“You wanna talk about it?”

“I’m alright. There is something I wanted to ask you though…” This shouldn’t be as hard as it is, he thinks, but he’s never been good at discussing his feelings. No doubt, a trait he’d picked up from his father. 

“Okay, what’s up kiddo?”

Just spit it out.

“How do you know when you’re in love?”

“Oh.” She half-laughs and smiles at him. “That’s a big one.”

He nods, no idea of what she’ll say next, or even what he wants her to say.

Across from him, she closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. “I don’t think it’s like in books or movies, or maybe the life we have is just too different, but it’s not what you expect. You start to get to know someone, and it feels like you’ve known them forever. You can lean on each other, and even if things around you don’t get any better, they get a little easier to deal with, just cause you’ve got someone to be there for you when you need it.”

She opens her eyes, “Does that make sense? I could give you the list of scientific symptoms of love, you know, pupils dilating, increased heartbeat, all that.”

“No, that makes sense.” He says softly.

“So who is it?” She asks. 

“Can I ask you something else first?” 

“Sure”

“I’m afraid to ask my father, because I know it’s something he doesn’t like to remember, so I asked your Vegeta, but he wouldn’t give me a straight answer.”

“I never thought I’d have to give a sex talk before breakfast but alright-“ 

“No! No it’s not that. I’m good I know, uh, I know all that.” 

“Oh thank Kami.” 

They both laugh it off, and as red as Trunks knows he is, it certainly cleared some of the tension.

“How did you and dad get together?”

“Ah.” She says leaning back in her chair. “What did Vegeta tell you?”

“Just that you made him respect you, and that he’s lucky you did.”

“That he is.” 

“I just wanna know, like, did you go on a _date_ or what?”

She laughs again, “Nope! I think our first official date had to be a few years after you were born. No it wasn’t like that at all, he moved in with me right after we all got back from Namek, and he was insufferable. Always snide and yelling at me, so I yelled back. Everyone else was terrified of him, and for the first few weeks so was I, but I couldn’t bring myself to treat him like he was some kind of villain. The man had baggage, and that was no excuse for him to treat me like shit, of course, but I couldn’t treat him badly either.”

She pauses for another long sip of her coffee. “Eventually we became sorta like friends, I guess that’s the best word for whatever it was. We trusted each other. A few months after Yamcha and I broke it off, I heard him having a nightmare. I didn’t expect him to open up at all, but he did, a little, and we talked about it. We stayed up so late talking that we fell asleep together.” A fond smile covers her cheeks. “After that I think it was just a slow steady cycle of me pushing a little further, and him being absolutely shocked, me thinking I fucked up royally, and then him pushing back.”

“I see.” Trunks says, utterly absorbed.

“Sorry it’s not the romance novel you were looking for.” She says, still smiling. “Now will you tell me who you’ve got back home? Come on, I’m dying.”

For a moment Bulma’s words threw him, he’d been so lost in her story he’d forgotten why he was talking to her in the first place. He tried to collect his thoughts as they spiraled back in to nervousness, and failed. “Her name is Mai.” 

“Is she pretty? Is she strong?” Bulma teases, leaning forward to rest her chin on her hands. 

Trunks nods. “She’s a resistance fighter.”

“Mm, makes sense.” 

“What do you mean?”

“Well it’s pretty obvious, you saiyans like your partners tough.”

Trunks’ mind flashes back to the time Mai knocked him flat on his back with the butt of her rifle during a training session, the way his cheeks flushed, how beautiful she looked when she reached down to offer him a hand up. “I guess so.” Is all he can bring himself to say.

“And what do you like about her?” Bulma asks, sounding more and more like a teenage girl at a sleepover with every word.

It’s a while before he answers. “She’s fun, but never in a mean way. She can be tough when she needs to be, and she doesn’t mess around. When we’re alone together she’s just… soft. It’s nice, like the world isn’t ending.” He adds sadly.

“Is she your girlfriend?” 

“I… don’t know.” He says. “I don’t think so anyways. We kissed… once, but I don’t know if she feels the same way I do, I wouldn’t want to hurt our friendship.”

“Well it sounds like she’s worth the risk to me.” 

Something uncomfortable stirs in Trunk’s stomach, the same painful twist he used to get when he saw his father try to talk about the time before the androids. The same thing could happen to him. He could love Mai more than anything, and still lose her. He could grow into the same cold hard man his father is, easily, he thinks. 

“Is it worth it?” He asks, betrayed by the shaking of his voice. “To try and love someone at the end of the world?”

She reaches across the table to take his hand in hers. “I want to say yes, but I would, wouldn’t I? I’m not the one who lost everything. I won.”

He nods sadly.

“But I really do think you should try, you deserve to be happy, Trunks.”

Despite himself, a smile grows on his face. “Thanks, mom.”

Bulma gets up from the table. “Well, I gotta get back at it.” She says, jerking a thumb in the direction of the lab. “If everything goes well we should have the machine up and running by tonight.”

With a ruffle of his hair, she’s gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for all the emo bullshit lol, im not a very deep or contemplative person irl so i need to get it out somewhere i guess

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks again! If you don’t already, follow me @vegitodorito on tumblr :) or @vegetafucker69 on twitter! (that handle is satire please dont come at me)


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